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Multiple-Meaning Words

A multiple-meaning word is spelled and said the same way but means different things: a bat flies at night, and you hit a ball with a bat. Context is the only clue, which is why these words are such good reading practice.

Here are 120 multiple-meaning words from past ClueBy puzzles, each with a real example sentence for every meaning. Use them as a reference, or make a printable worksheet below.

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Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: perch · wind · rock · shower · trunk · calf · coach · cold

  1. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  2. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  3. The water is too ________________.
  4. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  5. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  6. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  7. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  8. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  9. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  10. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  11. Have you met the new head ________________?
  12. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  13. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  14. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  15. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  16. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  17. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  18. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  19. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  20. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  21. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  22. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  23. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  24. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com

Answer key

  1. shower — a meteor shower
  2. rock — to move gently
  3. cold — not warm
  4. calf — of the leg
  5. trunk — of an elephant
  6. wind — moving air
  7. trunk — of a tree
  8. wind — to turn a key
  9. rock — music
  10. perch — for a bird
  11. coach — a trainer
  12. rock — a stone
  13. calf — a young animal
  14. wind — moving air
  15. calf — a young animal
  16. cold — an illness
  17. shower — rain
  18. coach — a trainer
  19. coach — pulled by horses
  20. cold — the Cold War
  21. trunk — of a car
  22. perch — for a bird
  23. shower — to wash
  24. perch — the fish

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

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Frequently asked questions

What are multiple-meaning words?

Words with the same spelling and pronunciation but more than one meaning, like bark (of a dog or of a tree) or bank (for money or of a river). You can only tell which meaning is meant from the rest of the sentence.

Are multiple-meaning words the same as homonyms?

Mostly, yes. Teachers often use "multiple-meaning words" and "homonyms" for the same idea. Homophones are different: they sound alike but are spelled differently, like flour and flower.

Are the worksheets free?

Yes. Make and print as many as you like for home or classroom use. Each sheet has its own link, so you can print the same one again.

Where do the words come from?

From past ClueBy puzzles, a daily game where you sort twelve sentences by their missing word. A new puzzle every day adds four more words to this list.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com